Reading - and rewriting - the rules
by Shinen no Hikari
Summary: Luke Skywalker, former Jedi grandmaster of the new jedi order. Quite possibly the most powerful jedi in all of history. Now time traveler? After keeping Luke alive longer than most, only the Force knows what plans it has for the great jedi now thrust into the Old Republic. Mostly for fun. Prelude to Galactic Risk. Legends focused primarily.


A/N: I do not feel like this has been my best work; however I do feel like I owe this to anyone who read my story "Galactic Risk." This is meant to be a prequel to that story and explain Luke's impact on Star Wars history through time travel leading up to that series. Really most of the story is unnecessary, but it feels like it would be a fun concept. I also have been trying to get this out before I go back to working on my more typical stories, and once I complete this prequel, I completely intend on rewriting - and eventually completing - Galactic Risk. So without further ado, here we go.

XXX

Luke Skywalker allowed a "Thunk, thunk, thunk" to be heard in the command room of the starship that Cade Skywalker had taken from his mother, as the younger Skywalker piloted the small shuttle towards Coruscant Prime. It was not exactly common for the astral projection produced by flow walking to actually generate such a noise when impacting a physical object, but the elder Skywalker hoped that the noise would prevent him from surprising, and startling his descendent as the man was already in a mentally stressed state. Luke could feel his great-great-grandson fighting off the imprint left behind by Darth Krayt, as Cade made the journey towards what he felt he must do. It had been a long and painful journey for Cade, and it was difficult for Luke to simply watch, but the elder Skywalker had realized that his time in the galaxy at large had long since passed. The galaxy and his family within it, needed to be able to move without his interference. That decision still did not stop him from offering his wisdom, when he felt that it might be sufficient for a situation.

As Luke's astral form approached Cade he heard the mental conversation occurring between Cade and the sith lord_, "You won't do this apprentice. If you had truly wanted me dead you would have cut off my head."_ The sith phantom said to Luke's descendent.

"Yeah? Not sure even that would work, sleemo, vaporizing your body in the sun – that oughta do it, don't you think?" Cade replied out loud, speaking to his deceased enemy.

"_Destroy my body if you wish I'll live again – through you. Lord Andeddu and Karness Muur showed me the way of transfer essence." _The sith countered.

"Not if I go into the sun with you." Cade rebutted with all of the conviction of the man that he had become. Cade was prepared to end himself in the hopes that his death would end Krayt's tyranny once and for all.

Luke could not allow that. "What if Krayt is only a voice in your own head, Cade?"

"What if you are?" Cade countered.

"Could be," Luke allowed, "but if that's true, what part of you do I represent? What part of you is Krayt? Which part is stronger?" Luke paused for a second to allow his descendant an opportunity to digest that question. Then Luke continued, "Will you give in to your fear, or choose hope?"

"In my vision, after my battle with Krayt," here Cade paused as he allowed himself to remember the source of his fear, "there was only darkness, death." Cade finished his thought, allowing the despair to overwhelm his voice, and mentality.

Luke did not allow the despair to sit for even the barest of moments, feeling like he was dealing with his father all over again as he tried to motivate Cade. Luke immediately argued his point further, "And yet, here you are, alive, Cade." Luke paused as Cade looked away from him, looking as though he did not want to be swayed. Luke would not be deterred, "You are a jedi, time to choose your own path." Luke waited there for a few moments, testing the emotional state of his descendant. Once the moment passed Luke stood himself straight, before allowing his projection to dissipate into nothingness. The elder Skywalker was content that the younger would make the right decision.

X

Luke opened his eyes, standing from his meditative position, before sighing in exhaustion. While the Force had kept him alive over the past hundred years – for what purpose only the Force knew, and it still had not revealed – that did not mean that he had the same energy that had been available to him in his prime. Flow walking to the other side of the galaxy had once been simply as taxing as taking a light jog around the Jedi Praxeum, but now it felt like he had been engaged in a spar with one of his fellow masters for at least a half hour.

Yoda had been right, a thought which brought a quiet chuckle from the old jedi. While nine hundred years of age were still far off in the distance for Luke – and he assumed he would still never actually attain such an age – the years were certainly catching up to him.

Of course it could also be that the harsh environment of Demonsgate was starting to become too much for the old jedi master, what with its high level of volcanic activity, and seismic instability. Luke assumed that he had been drawn to this wretched planet, which had become his home in the roughly ninety years since he left galactic society, because of its overall seclusion from the galaxy at large, but much like the Force's maintenance of Luke's ever extending lifespan, its reason for leading him to settle at Demonsgate stayed a mystery.

Putting the mysteries of his current circumstances aside, Luke turned away from the desolate landscape of his current home and began the hike down from his mountainous perch to the plateau where his wife's ship waited for him to provide its shelter and safety. Luke felt content that there was little left in the day to require his attention.

X

One month had passed since the demise of Darth Krayt, and Luke once again found himself sitting in meditation on the same mountaintop he sat upon during that monumental galactic event. Today his meditations were centered on his living relatives.

First he felt out Cade, as the young man began yet another adventure surrounded by his loved ones. Next Luke turned his senses to Leia's great-great-granddaughter Marasiah Fel, and her governance over the Empire that had previously belonged to her father as it integrated into the Galactic Federation as a whole. Next Luke felt out the young Ania Solo, in the Force as she began her own story, adventuring with a motley crew that would have made Han proud. Finally, Luke observed the remains of his great-grandson Rawk's family as they maintained their newest repair shop on Kiffu. It had been a long road for his family, but it seemed a semblance of peace was beginning to finally overtake them.

As this thought settled in his mind, along with a feeling of peace, Luke wondered if it was finally time for the Force to call him into itself permanently. His feeling of peace was quickly dashed as Luke felt the appearance of a dark presence burst from hyperspace above Demonsgate. The darkness quickly broke the atmosphere, and began descending upon Demonsgate in the form of a ship barely visible to Luke's naked eye, as the jedi master arose from his meditations.

As Luke came slowly down the mountain, the ship grew ever larger in its view, and the darkness within became even more obvious. It appeared to be a fighter vaguely reminiscent of the old T.I.E fighters, which Luke fought off back in his days as a warrior. It was marked with the same black exterior, and had the same ball style cockpit with its engine in the back, and its viewport that almost seemed identical to a targeting reticule, comically enough. The only major aesthetic difference to the T.I.E.'s Luke remembered fighting, were the vertical wings affixed directly to the cockpit, which were angled away from said cockpit, as opposed to the horizontally mounted straight wings affixed to wing struts that adorned the fighters Luke was used to fighting. Of course Luke knew enough about this newer model, which he had watched from afar as the Empire and One Sith used them to terrorize the galaxy at present.

It was not long after the fighter became clear to his senses that it touched down in the valley below Luke's perch. Still Luke maintained his sedate pace towards the fallen craft, not particularly interested in what would happen when he made contact with the pilot, but knowing that the Force had drawn her here to him, just as it had drawn him here so long ago. Whatever was about to happen, this was why the Force had kept him alive, though in all honesty it felt so insignificant to Luke at the moment.

As the top mounted hatch of the T.I.E. predator began opening, a familiar figure began climbing out of the downed craft. While Luke had obviously never seen her in person, it would probably be an age before Luke forgot the appearance of the dark lady after observing her attempted corruptions of his descendant through his visions. Luke continued his leisurely climb towards the vehicle, as he quietly called to the pilot, preferring to let his voice carry through the force rather than raise it in a more traditional manner, "Lady Talon, what a pleasant surprise that you deign to grace me with your presence, after everything that you've done for my descendant."

The sith stiffened in shock, whipping around to face the source of the unexpected declaration, before relaxing again at the site of the former grand master. The twi'lek let out a derisive laugh, before calling back loudly enough for Luke to hear, "Who are you to dare speak to the hand of Lord Krayt in such a manner, old man? Return to whatever hovel you crawled out of, before my humor escapes me, and I decide to end your miserable life a few days sooner."

Luke had gotten to within a hundred meters of the vessel and continued shortening the distance as he responded, "Boasting of such a position should be beneath you, my lady. The hand of a deceased master? Honestly it sounds like a child's horror story." Luke gave a quiet chuckle as the sith snarled.

"You dare mock me old man!" Talon responded, igniting her lightsaber.

"You still don't recognize me," Luke said feigning disappointment. "My appearance hasn't changed that much from the holos that still exist of me, and I know your order is at least aware of my victories over Palpatine and Vader."

"You speak in riddles, and try my patience fool. I care not for your identity, just as it seems it has been lost to the galaxy. Soon it will not matter." Talon bit out crouching in preparation to lunge at Luke who seemed to be foolishly continuing to close the gap between them, now only fifty meters away. Talon failed to notice how rapidly the former grand master was closing that distance, despite his sedate pace.

"Come now I know you've heard of me," Luke replied, almost sounding like he spoke in a whining tone.

"I don't care who you are, I just want you dead!" Talon roared as she leapt from her perch with a downward slash at her elder opponent. Luke simply pivoted his body to evade the strike with minimal effort, before giving a little hop over her blade to avoid the responding upward diagonal slash meant to bisect him from hip to shoulder. Once Talon had finished her upward swing she moved to decapitate the source of her ire, only for the elder man to duck the horizontal slash.

"Is that really how you feel?" Luke asked, as he continued to evade the sith's saber strikes with the minimal amount of effort required, "I would've thought that you would be at the epitome of joy, knowing that you had the opportunity to strike down, The Luke Skywalker, bane of the sith order for a century and a half…"

Talon continued to swing in vain, as she processed the old man's statement. Once she realized what he said, she took a step back and let out a bark of laughter, "You? Luke Skywalker? Old man this desolate waste must have driven you to senility. Skywalker's been dead for ninety years."

"I assure you that the rumors of my expiration have been greatly exaggerated - much as I intended." Luke responded.

"It doesn't matter who you were, or who you think you were, either way you'll be dead in moments." Talon declared, raising her hand and clenching it in a fist as she attempted to gain a grip on the old man by the throat with the Force, before lunging forward in an attempt to run him through with her saber.

Luke released a small effortless wave in the Force to break the twi'lek's grip before finally igniting his own emerald blade to calmly bat her saber aside, as he stepped out of her path. "A valiant effort, but alas, one that is wasted." Luke declared as he continued to avoid Talon's blade with simple side steps, subtle hops, and only the barest contact exchanged between their two blades ever so slightly redirecting the dark lady's saber from his person. She spun, and leapt, and slashed; in all form embodying the mighty maelstrom. His slow, methodical responses continued, a back step to avoid her horizontal slash, a side step to evade her downward chop, a gentle parry to avoid her quick thrust, an effortless hop to dodge her precluding kick followed by a seemingly slow flip to avoid the setup horizontal slash before grounding himself both physically and through the Force as the sith attacked him with a telekinetic blast that, while devastating to their surroundings, seemed to simply wash around him. Compared to Talon's violent maelstrom, an onlooker may compare the old master to a serene waterfall; relentless in its own right, yet peaceful within its element.

Talon began growling in frustration, her assault becoming more and more vigorous, her anger building and building. Luke continued to be underwhelmed by his opponent; however, a concern was beginning to develop within him. As Talon became more angry and more desperate, Luke noticed that she was attempting to draw more on the dark side of the Force with each failure. This by itself was not unexpected, as it was only a natural action and reaction. What concerned Luke was that as Talon began drawing more on the dark side, she began noticeably and accidentally tapping into the dark side Force nexus that existed on the planet - a nexus that Luke had slowly been purifying over his stay on the planet, which was now returning with full Force. Luke knew that he could toy with his opponent no longer.

As Talon made her next vertical slash at Luke, Luke responded with a decisive strike which successfully cleaved the beam emitter from the end of her lightsaber - without making any contact with the twi'lek herself - disabling the weapon. With his follow through, Luke spun deftly sidestepping his opponent, and gently shoved her forward with his palm and the slightest breath of the Force, causing Talon to fly forward from her own momentum. The sith rolled to regain her footing, and moved to bring her weapon to bear once again, only to realize the damage her elder opponent had caused the lightsaber.

Talon let out an enraged roar, as she began to draw even further on the dark side before she released a new telekinetic onslaught at the jedi before her. Once again her attack proved futile, but she just kept it going releasing wave after wave of telekinetic dark side energy. Talon opened her senses to the Force trying to figure out why this ancient being refused to break under her power, and what she found truly horrified her to the point that she actually stopped her attack for a moment. In her mind's eye, Talon saw a metaphysical mountain of luminous presence holding the old man in place. How was she to move a mountain? Where was she to even begin? Her despair lasted for only a moment, before she once again began using it to fuel her rage!

With a guttural roar Darth Talon reached deeper into herself - and incidentally deeper into the well of dark side energy already present on the planet to release an onslaught of power the likes of which she had never known. She could not be denied. She must prove the power of Lord Krayt.

Luke could feel the change in his opponent, and despite his great concern regarding the matter, he knew of no way to restrain her, and settled for centering himself further and further into the protective embrace of the Force. He knew that he could easily eliminate her; however, he had felt that a killing blow should only be delivered as a last resort. Unfortunately, now his mercy seemed to be backfiring, as he knew that even if he slew the sith lady the maelstrom of dark side Force energy that she had kicked up would not be so easily dissipated.

As Luke continued to endure Talon's telekinetic assault, the former hand began throwing in blasts of Force lightning to try and unsettle the jedi. Luke met this new attack with his defensive skills, alternating between deflecting the blasts with his lightsaber and absorbing their energy with the Force. Talon grew more frustrated. Blasts of lightning became waves of lightning. Luke's defense did not falter. Talon's attack continued. An outsider looking in would no longer see two Force users doing battle, but would in fact only be able to perceive a storm practically bombarding a small but brilliant center of light. The Force was becoming palpable.

To Luke it felt like the full power of the dark side on the planet, which he had slowly been purifying was now resurging with a renewed vigor awakened by the sith lady. At this point he knew that no matter how he dealt with her, the storm of dark Force energy that she had kicked up would continue to rage. He would need to contain this storm, before it grew out of hand.

Luke deactivated his lightsaber, and dropped to a meditative position, so that he could fall deeper, and deeper into the Force, allowing the Force to be his full protection. He cocooned himself in the Force, so that it would absorb the electric and telekinetic energy of the blasts coming from Darth Talon as he began to fix his focus outward to the furthest edges of the storm that she was stirring up in an eventual attempt to contain it. He began pushing with all of his metaphysical might in an attempt to contain the storm, and draw the energy back to its origin point. The darkness would not be denied, however, and the more he tried to contain the more power from the original force nexus would be drawn out. Talon was slowly becoming lost in the storm as she drew more and more power out, until she stopped being able to fathom where she ended and the darkness began. Luke continued to restrain the energy. He would gain an inch at a time. Slowly, slowly, the storm was being brought under control. Slowly, slowly, it began to condense. As the energy of the entire dark side Force nexus of Demonsgate was drawn out, and then compressed into the single sith lord, the condensation became too much for the fabric of space and time. Reality snapped.

Luke Skywalker, quickly redirected his efforts from simultaneously withstanding Talon's attack, and containing the storm of the Demonsgate Force nexus; to completely focusing on shrouding himself in the protective and healing energies of the light side of the Force, as he was sucked into the tear of reality created by his and Talon's competing efforts. No matter what happened he would not let this be his end. No matter where he found himself he would let the light protect him. The light side of the Force had a plan for him, and he could tell that it was not to die here. It would see him through this crisis as it had seen him through so many before.

As Luke disappeared into the rip created by the struggle of the two force users, all became quiet. There was no more Darth Talon, there was no more Luke Skywalker, and finally there was no more darkness on Demonsgate…

XXX

Above the planet of Taris, the Endar Spire erupted in a fantastic explosion. An explosion far larger than it should have given its size, but given the already noticeable carnage, the amplification was given no heed. As escape pod after escape pod of Republic personnel descended to the planet, no one noticed the miniscule speck of brilliant energy that crashed into the planet at an illogically controlled pace. Luke Skywalker crashed to Taris next to a recently landed escape pod, and immediately collapsed, completely burnt out after channeling and controlling more Force energy than any being he had ever known. The former grand master had just performed a feat of oneness within the Force that had never occurred before, and survived being sucked into a Force storm. A feat that even he may never be able to perform again. Or perhaps it was simply the Force's will that Luke not yet perish. How could the laws of the universe argue with the Force? Either way, it may never be known...

XXX

A/N: Yes a lot of the feats of power performed in this chapter are ludicrous. I promise that over the course of the story the displays of power will become more suitable to Star Wars, I just needed one big burst to catalyze this story.

I originally planned on Luke arriving on the Endar Spire and helping Revan and Trask to escape in tact, but that did not really feel natural given how Luke crashes into this time period. I also planned on Luke meeting Revan this chapter, but again given everything that's happened I feel like this is the best stopping point, and this spot does not necessarily give room for Luke to meet them...


End file.
